Saying “homelessness is a problem” is easy. We’ve all seen our fellow Alaskans struggle, and watched people appearing more often on street corners with cardboard signs asking for money. Most of us, however, never see the day-to-day reality that is hidden in communities. We at Operation: NightLight wanted to better understand the issues we are looking to solve with our program, so we dug into the numbers and went searching for the real data on homlessness and how it directly impacts Native Alaskans. Hidden in the data sheets of various organizations, we brought some alarming information to light. Here’s what we found out, and it’s shocking.
- 1,949 people experienced homelessness in Alaska in 2021.(1)
To put this number in perspective, consider that the average Native village in Alaska is around 50-100 people. This means the equivalent of three whole villages, on any given day in Alaska, do not have adequate shelter. Now consider this number is not seasonal. This number of people are homeless regardless of season or weather, and in a state that reaches -40F regularly in the interior, this is a death sentence for hundreds.
- Homlessness increased in the United states for four years in a row from 2019 to 2020. (2)
We might be inclined to think that with more innovation and a growing economy that issues like homelessness and poverty should be going by the wayside. Unfortunately, this is far from the case. Overall homelessness in the United states as a whole has only increased over time, and has not stopped. Many factors contribute to this, such as minimum wage not keeping up with inflation, budget cuts to small shelters and other non-profit resources, and an ignorance of homelessness issues in political discourse.
- Minorities are disproportionately likely to experience homelessness in the United States. (2)
In 2020, 5 percent of all homeless people were African-American or indigenous (including all Native Americans and Pacific islanders) but these demographics only make up 1 percent of the total population. Systemic racism throughout history has led to minorities becoming the majority in the worst categories. Though Alaska has a remarkable amount of resources for its Native people compared to other states and countries, the fact remains that most people who end up with no home or family to go to, are Native.
- 2020 was the first year that “Unsheltered” homeless people outnumbered “Sheltered” homeless people. (2)
This means that the majority of homeless people in that year had no temporary shelter available to them at all. In the harsh climate of Alaska, this has resulted in many fatalities which police departments refer to as “outdoor deaths”. Traditionally, Native communities have protected the individual from cold weather and hunger by pooling resources and caring for their most vulnerable. Hospitality and solidarity are deeply ingrained in Native culture and values. In larger cities such as Fairbanks and Anchorage, however, individuals get lost in the cracks and resources and shelters are scarce. This leads directly to the deaths by exposure or violence of many.
- Domestic violence and sexual abuse Is deeply tied with homlessness in Native Alaskans. (3)
Of all victims of abuse that reached out to the organization StrongHearts Native Helpline for support during the years 2017 to 2022, 16 percent reported that they were experiencing homlessness as a result of, or during their abusive situations. 36 percent of those people also cited their greatest need during that time as being shelter. This is why Operation:NightLight highlights the missing and murdered indiginous women in our community and seeks to end the disappearance of indiginous women by takling homlessness.
- Alaska has the most missing Native persons of any state in the United States of America. (4)
600,000 individuals go missing every year in the United States. In Alaska alone, in August 2022, the National Missing and Unidentified persons System (NamUs) reported that in Alaska, 295 Native Alaskan or American Indian people were currently missing, making Alaska the State with the greatest number of Native missing persons in the United States. The state with the second most Native missing persons was Oklahoma, at 91 missing persons, a full 204 people less than Alaska. Though demographic data was not available for this report, 23 percent of all missing persons cases had tribal enrollment or affiliation, showing how Native Americans are amazingly overrepresented in missing persons cases, of which homlessness is a contributing factor.
These are the undeniable facts that drive Operation:NightLight to do what we do. Behind the numbers, real people in our community are suffering, and a lot of them are Native Alaskans who are shareholders in Native corporations. Our goal is to seek funds from these native corporations to ensure all our people have the basic necessities of life. If you are interested in helping solve these problems, contact us today or donate by visiting us at opnightlight.com.
Photo captions
- StrongHearts: StrongHearts Native Helpline 2021 report on the needs of Alaskan Native callers seeking resources from their organization.
- NAMUS: National Missing and Unidentified Persons Database report on Native American and Native Alaskans missing per state in 2021.
- USICH: United States Interagency Council on Homelessness report on total people missing per state in 2020.
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